#daridranarayan

Okay, this has been percolating for a few months now, and it's still not a fully fleshed out idea, but inspired by the publication of Dilexi te (though I am only about halfway through it), and challenged by Pope Leo XIV's assertion that "the Church is fully the Bride of the Lord when She is also the sister of the poor," and compelled by Saint Camillus de Lellis's exhortation that we should "ask the Lord for a motherly affection for our neighbor,"..... .... I am going to propose what I am currently calling the Consorority of Louis IX (but men can join too). What I am imagining is a spiritual association modeled along the lines of the Dominican confraternities, an association of lay and religious with a focus on service to and friendship with the poor in a specifically Franciscan mode. Such an organization, should it actually be formed and approved, would entail that its members pray for each other and for the people that they serve; that the members of the consorority be open to being evangelized by God in the people they serve, and that those whom the consorority serve come to greater knowledge of the God who loves them and bears their sufferings and sorrows. I think that it may be a good idea to search through the Franciscan tradition to find a short prayer oriented towards that purpose that can be memorized and recited daily by the association's members (the Memorare is one possibility). The main duty of members of the consorority would be providing a meal for a member of their geographic community; supplying money equivalent to a meal or straight up giving the meal would fulfill the obligation, but keeping in mind that this is an opportunity to encounter "the sacramental presence of the Lord" in the Other, ideally this would involve sitting down and eating with the person, in order that this be a real encounter with a person and not just an obligation to be ticked off as fulfilled. Like the original Confraternity of the Rosary, membership of the consorority could be "tiered" in the intensity of the duty; one could promise to do this monthly, weekly, or (though this is certainly outside my own means) daily. And, like the Dominican confraternities, failure to meet this duty would not incur penalty of sin. This duty is inspired by the titular saint of the proposed consorority, who as a devotional practice used to serve the poor at table and ate from their leftovers. In keeping with the Franciscan charism, it may be good to court the Poor Clares to see if they would be willing to take up recording membership and electing a Promoter-General for the consorority from among their own members. This is just an idea, but something that may be worth pursuing.

Ubi dolor, ibi Christus